Satsangs

Satsang is a compound Sanskrit word that means “keeping the company of the Self.” The Self, Awareness, is the true nature of everyone and one keeps company with it by continually meditating on it in many ways. One of the most effective methods involves discussing non-dual teachings with someone who has realized his or her identity as the Self, to get clarity with reference to Self inquiry. The satsangs posted here are the questions of many people around the world who are interested in enlightenment and find that Vedanta is their preferred means of Self knowledge. Since I am a teacher of Vedanta, a time tested means of self inquiry, I am qualified to reply to these questions.~James Swartz

ShiningWorld Reader

Note: This is a continued satsang with Wayne, our friend in prison, who has been writing to me for several years. In his most recent handwritten letter to me, he has just read The Yoga of Love I sent him and asks to explain the purpose of a devotional practice, as he has some confusion around it.

Sundari: Hello, Wayne, as always, great to hear from you again! I am glad you used my South Africa address, as I will only be back in the US next spring. I hope you to get back the pendant I sent you, but if not, no worries. As you say, as the self you are the only symbol. However, it is part of devotion to the self to have something that symbolizes it, for you, which can be anything really. We have an altar at home with our favourite symbols, and do our pujas there every day, even though we know that there is nothing to pray for, as there is only the self. The purpose of prayer is not to supplicate the self; it is to revel in it by disarming the ego, who likes to think it can go it alone. Prayer, like gratitude, is a gift given to us by Isvara for the peace of mind of the jiva. Isvara does not need our prayers or gratitude, but without them our lives are diminished because both make us feel good.

I am so happy to hear the news about your imminent (possible) release. I pray that Isvara makes this happen – and that you have resolved the karma that got you in there in the first place. What has so impressed us is how you have used this time in prison to further your self-inquiry, and it has clearly born fruit. I hear more and more every time you write to me how clear your mind is. As we have said before, your great test will be in applying this clarity and discrimination “back in the world,” so to speak – knowing of course that the world is in you!

Regarding devotional practice, I understand your mixed feelings about it. The teaching on bhakti can be confusing, especially for people like us who have long gone past the first stage of dualistic devotion. Your take on it is basically correct, but I have laid out a short version of what James teaches in The Yoga of Love. I hope it helps:

The tradition says there are two kinds of bhakti, or devotional practice, and it is compulsory for moksa to go through all of them, except stage one of the first kind. I have broken down the two stages to four stages for ease of assimilation. The first stage is dvaita, or dualistic bhakti, and it has three parts to it. The fourth stage is advaita – jnanum, or knowledge, non-dual bhakti. All three stages are stepping stones for the next stage, with the fourth stage being the end of the line, i.e. moksa.

1. Dvaita (dualistic) bhakti –

(Note: Stage 1 and 2 corresponds to Chapters I to VI of the Bhagavad Gita.)

Stage 1: (This stage is not essential, but it is a stepping stone to stage 2.) Many people who undertake self-inquiry have a lot of negativity towards the idea of the religious God and hate the idea of God and religion, which is understandable because of the damage that most rigid, dogmatic religions have caused, institutional religion being so often very narrow-minded. However, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water. It is essential that we understand the importance of worship as an integral part not only of self-inquiry and negating the ego, but also for the edification of the jiva, “before” or “after” moksa.

This is informal or undisciplined worship, it is totally subjective and emotional, “heart” based. It is where all religions originate, where most samsaris worship a personal deity or God, seeing it as a HE usually, a big daddy who takes care of them and listens to their problems. It is worshiping God as a person. It is childlike or childish devotion. It’s about supplicating God in order to get results, getting what you want and avoiding what you don’t want. This is where all religious fanaticism and dogmatism originate; it leads to sectarianism and fundamentalism. It makes people feel self-righteous, that they have “God on their side” and can act out whatever they believe “in His name,” that they are “better than” and their way is the only way. It gives rise to all religious wars. It also makes ordinary people feel safe, providing guidelines that help sort out relationship and life issues. This is for people totally identified with being people and the world of objects.

Stage 2: This part is compulsory for self-inquiry if moksa is the aim.

This stage is emotional and intellectual. Here you start to practise karma yoga – surrendering the results of actions to Isvara with an attitude of consecration and gratitude because you have realised that the results of actions are not up to you. This is to help neutralize the idea of doership.

You also practise the five pancha yagna (sacrifices or activities):

1. Worship of your deity however you see it (any symbol will do because they all point to the self).

2. Worship of your parents or ancestors.

3. Worship of your teacher and teaching.

4. Worship of society and people in general.

5. Worship of the environment (i.e. Isvara/Field of Existence).

Stage 3: Upasana (meditation), also compulsory for moksa.

(Note: This stage corresponds to Chapters VII to XII of the Bhagavad Gita.)

This is where worship of Isvara/God is objective: purely impersonal or intellectual. Knowledge of Isvara and the creation start to crystallize. There is still duality and you see Isvara in special forms (like icons or beauty), but gradually, as knowledge becomes firm, this progresses into seeing and worshiping Isvara in all forms, including the “good and the bad.” Non-dual vision cannot be firm until we can see, accept and love all things, “the good and the bad,” equally. This is a steep curve for the jiva.

Important note: All three stages of dvaita bhakti involve free will and the jiva, or individual, which is why these stages are called dualistic worship. The purpose of these stages of worship, or bhakti, is that these practices reduce subjectivity and neutralize vasanas – likes and dislikes – as well negate the doer. It takes care of the childish ego.

Stage 4: Advaita, or non-dual bhakti: jnanum, self-knowledge

(Note: Corresponds to Chapters XIII to XVIII of the Bhagavad Gita.)

This is the final stage of bhakti; it is advaita – non-dual jnanum, or self-knowledge. It is non-personal, beyond subjectivity and objectivity, i.e. moksa. This is non-dual vision where you see everything as the self first, and second as the jiva, never confusing the two again. You still live as the jiva, and so follow dharma, your own and universal dharma, which requires following the rules of the field of existence, or Isvara, automatically. And you continue with dvaita bhakti except it is no longer dualistic in that you know that everything is you, awareness – i.e. you have permanently discriminated between satya and mithya.

As for your question about remaining vasanas/samskaras – it is true that we will not be free until we can negate the jiva’s psychological/emotional baggage. Most of us still have a great deal of nididhysana to do on the jiva’s stuff, even “after” self-realisation. As we have discussed previously (James replied to you about this too), self-actualisation is the hard part. The jiva is a product of the gunas, belongs to and is always subject to Isvara. Therefore the jiva is never going to be perfect. We all have what I call a “jiva overlay,” which is our Isvara-given character. What is important is we know it is not real and do not identify with it, ever. If you want to be free, there is no fine print to this. You cannot be the self and the jiva or a little bit of both. The jiva has to go – but that does not mean it disappears. Isvara’s creation belongs to Isvara and it stays in the apparent reality.

Self-knowledge does not make the jiva immune to the gunas. It is sometimes very difficult to make sense of the world and how the gunas play out. It is so amazing how relentless the jiva’s stuff is; the gunas never let up – there is no “off button.” That is the fine print on the enlightenment certificate! It can be rather sobering to note that knowledge of the gunas does not make them go away, and the effects can be very unpleasant at times. Even with self-knowledge, they can blindside one quite easily. It is well to remember though, no matter what surfaces, it is all Isvara; the jiva and its “stuff” is not unique. Every single vasana is universal and not personal. As Nisargadatta says so eloquently, to be a person is to be asleep! Well, as the self, we are wide awake, but that does not mean that Isvara cannot get at the jiva and drag it down at times, until all self-knowledge has fully and firmly negated all binding vasanas. Until then, the work of self-actualisation (nididhysana) continues as we clean up the sewer of the unconscious and the hold the causal body has on the jiva. Thank God that the life raft of the knowledge is never too far away. Prayer and devotion are a great help in such situations. Life is not easy in the world – any world within this world. It takes courage, as it can be heartbreaking, as you know only too well. The unavoidable and painful disintegration of the ego self to integrate the Self as the default standard bearer for the mind is not an easy process to endure.

Do not worry about negating all vasanas – it is not possible or necessary. If we want freedom from and for the jiva, we only need worry about the ones that are truly binding and keep us stuck in drama, karma and suffering. We all know what these patterns are, and if we don’t, Isvara can be relied upon without fail to help dredge them up from the sewer of the unconscious! As awareness, you are free of the jiva and you know it arises from and depends on you, and not the other way around. Then life makes sense and it is possible to see beauty all the time, even when things are not pretty.

Taking a stand in awareness as awareness means taking a stand in our fullness, not in smallness. As long as I try to turn the “other” into “my” husband/wife/son/daughter, etc. and try to work things out with him or her on that level, I am keeping the concept of duality, smallness, limitation, alive. The jiva can never compete with the self, obviously. So the jiva overcomes its smallness by living as the self and consciously doing battle with the “voice of diminishment,” as I call the bleating whine of our small self, as it arises. It does not try to defend that voice. To do so only gives the “small self” life. And arise it does! It is difficult at first because you feel like a fraud, that you are trying to be something you are not. However, if we are hooked by the turbulent thoughts and emotional patterns inherent in being a jiva, even in seemingly small day-to-day issues, we will never be free of them. The ever-changing and limited idea of who you are trying to keep alive as the person is just a memory, a guilt-inspired thought. For the most part, it is a toxic program. I say get rid of it; pay it no heed!

Even though I realised the self years ago, my problem for a while was thinking that, as the jiva never disappeared, it had to be catered to, as it is. This may be true – the jiva will remain as Isvara made it, for the most part – even with moksa, and we must love it unconditionally.Nevertheless, satya and mithya is duality if you think the jiva is as real as the self. Taking a stand as the self means the jiva is as good as non-existent. You are the self. You are not The Self and the jiva. So when jiva appears, dismiss it. What a tremendous relief this is. It really is true that nididhysana never ends for the jiva. Self-actualisation is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure! Facing the small, less-than-fabulous part of the psyche Isvara equipped us with is not easy. It requires a great deal of courage to face the world as the jiva, and it takes even more courage to face the demons that awaits us in the causal body, so as to free ourselves of the jiva. When we do, we see the demons for what they are, just paper dragons, not real at all.

Here is a beautiful poem that captures so perfectly what the jiva has to face and endure to win freedom from the clutches of the causal body, there being no off button and Isvara being relentless with the crushing push and pull of the gunas, the unavoidable and painful disintegration of the ego-self to integrate the Self as the default standard bearer for the mind.

Even after moksa, the subjective reality never ends for the jivamukta and it can and often does still project its subjective reality (pratibasika) onto Isvara. As I said, it will always have its particular way of relating to Isvara, which will be unique to its Isvara-given vasana filters. The difference will be that a jivanmukta knows when it is projecting, instantly dissolves the projection in the knowledge and so is instantly free of it. This is how to manage the gunas so that we maintain peace of mind, sattva. In this way, we do not create any new karma but keep it like a little dog on a very short leash, right in front of us. No karmic drag, ever. No unfinished business or drama. Every moment of every day is complete. There is never another person involved in its interactions and transactions in the world of objects/experience. The jivanmukta knows in the moment that it is transacting only with itself because there is no “other.” There is only awareness.

Do not worry about negating all vasanas – it is not possible or necessary. If we want freedom from and for the jiva, we only need worry about the ones that are truly binding and keep us stuck in drama, karma and suffering. We all know what these patterns are, and if we don’t, Isvara can be relied upon without fail to help dredge them up from the sewer of the unconscious! As awareness, you are free of the jiva and you know it arises from and depends on you, and not the other way around. Then life makes sense and it is possible to see beauty all the time, even when things are not pretty.

I send you much love and many blessings. May life reach out to you and give you a fresh start in a new chapter of life.

Contacting Shining World

For years I have happily and diligently responded to communications on the topic of Self realization. Since the publication of my book, “How to Attain Enlightenment”— currently in its third printing —and the success of this website, the volume of emails has increased considerably. Unfortunately, owing to a busy schedule of teaching and writing, I am no longer able to answer all the emails I receive in a timely fashion. However, my wife, who is also a teacher, and several well-qualified teachers we have endorsed are available to answer emails on my behalf. I encourage you to send them your questions.
— James SwartzContact Us